Milan management destroying a once proud club

IT IS NO secret that Milan’s management has taken a treacherous course in how they are dealing with the club lately.

From Berlusconi’s war of words and taunting of his self-appointed Coach Clarence Seedorf, to CEO Adriano Galliani’s refusal to step down and allow for fresh ideas to be injected into the club, it is obvious to everyone whether affiliated with the club or just looking on, that Milan is destined for an embarrassing road ahead if nothing changes, and changes quickly.

Fresh off his community service sentencing, the Rossoneri owner made a comment to the press that even “retirement home people could control the locker room,” referring to his disapproval of how Seedorf has been running the show. This is a purely classless and embarrassing move by Berlusconi who had appointed Seedorf himself after the sacking of previous Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri. With no clear justification for his actions, that is indeed no way to repay someone who graciously retired from football at your request to become the manager of a club he had starred at for so many years.

Instead of playing the media game and shaming himself and the club even further than their dismal performance this term, Berlusconi should be studying his options on how to inject a lifeline of cash into the club for the front office to do their job and sign Milan level talent. The last few transfer windows have been painstakingly dry in terms of financial assistance from the club owner and this summer is all but the same story since Milan looks destined for league play only in 2014/2015.

Turning to the case of AC Milan CEO, Adriano Galliani, he is also to blame for the state the club is in. Inexplicably splashing 11 million euros on a player that was not worth the money instead of enforcing a dire need in defense proves that the once mighty deal maker has completely lost his touch. Galliani without an unlimited amount of bank notes at his disposal, is as useful as a car factory without metal. His refusal to step down and make way for club legends, namely Paolo Maldini, to join the club in an administrative role is hurting the development of Milan.

Possible new Milan coach for next season (screenshot from La Gazzetta dello Sport)

The Rossoneri are in dire need of fresh ideas and a plan forward for how the club will rise through the ranks again and become one of the top teams in Europe. The Berlusconi household is not completely inept, as the daughter of the owner, Barbara Berlusconi, aged only 29, has proved to have the business acumen of a seasoned executive. The problem lies in the power struggle between her and Galliani who refuses to allow her any reign to make the needed changes at the club.

A comment from one of the blog followers a few days ago hit the nail on the head when he quoted a famous Batman – The Dark Knight quote that says, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” That is exactly the situation at Milan now. Both Berlusconi and Galliani have been living in their twilight years too long and now they are bringing down the club that they built at a tremendous pace without even realizing it, or maybe they do, but are too stubborn to give up control.

The plan ahead for Milan is quite clear for anyone with the slightest understanding of the game and of business in general. Build your own stadium to generate income from ticket sales, stadium sponsorship opportunities and rental of the venue for events. Develop a clear youth project and begin investing in it to develop talent in-house that can put Milan and Italy back on the footballing map where they belong. The good thing is the tools are all in place for this to happen, there just needs to be an active management that takes advantage of the resources at hand and keeps pushing the boundaries and striving for success rather than mediocrity.

Spalleti had limitless amount of money available to him at Zenit and he failed miserably. He was suppose to bring Zenit among European heavyweights but failed even within Russian borders. What do you expect he can do with ACM and our tiny budget??

Milan need to figure out what they want. We have one of the best youth systems in Italy yet we let all our players leave for nothing only to buy them back at inflated prices. Not being in Europe will allow one thing, no big money signings but some smart promotions from the primavera. Paloschi was the next Inzaghi yet Milan let him go to Chievo and we buy Matri and Pazzini. Cristante is getting offers from Europes elite. Bayern and Real were linked with him in the past 12 months yet, the kid can’t get one game at a team that is in shambles. No European money = no money to spend on mediocre players = promote from primavera. That’s how a kid named Paolo Maldini started out and we all know how that ended.

Completely right. These tactics may have been justifiable when Milan was bringing in results, but Milan needs more stable management now. Berlusconi and Galliani have been tormenting Seedorf, pushing him to get into the nearly useless Europa League. This was supposed to be a no-pressure half a season, but the management can’t resist being insane.

Also, I like the use of the Batman line. Berlusconi and Galliani really have stayed long enough to become villains.

now dont fancy commenting about this B&G treatment of seedorf untill after knowing the reason behind it. the coach not playing some players cant really be called “a dressing room problem” and deserving of this treatment.

i would’ve respected seedorf even better had he ignored using their 4-3-1-2 (sadly you cant really refuse your bosses). how can they ask for changes when the coach have already won 5 of his last 7 games with his prefered formation and tactics. they are so clearly pushing him in the hole.

As much as I want Seedorf to stay he should go. Only because of how he is being treated, Galliani and Berlusconi are acting like kids towards Seedorf and he’s showing his true class by not responding, if you both don’t want him why bring him in the first place.

Interesting correlation between Milan and The Simpsons. Neither has been great since 2007, with only occasional good performances.

If there’s limited money, then promote from within. The fans will have patience with the youth, more than they will with the club signing players like constant, matri, muntari et all.

Our Primavera is doing well and I’m sure about 6 would do better jobs than a lot of the senior players.

Instead we’ll see another summer of losing one of our better players and signing terrible players. Galliani and Berlu will use the WC and the manager search as an excuse for running out of time to sign the players we need, but in reality, they no longer care. Their time is over, they just can’t see it.

Milan should look into consideration the way the Man City hierarchy approach the situation. Just hire the best people for the job available that match their salary budget. Although there are not plenty of those around these days, I am sure there are better persons to fill in the current directors.

I can live with the fact that Milan may lost its sporting power, just show us the fans that At Least, the owner / people in charge have identified the problems and are planning for a return to the glory days. Smart buys, invest in youth more and back the coach.

You guys have really tried a lot here. We are all Milan fans but nevertheless we should control our tempers and not to promote IQless pokenose from other clubs fans. The way things are going wasn’t as before when we do grate things,sign world class players,receiving precious predigies from sponsorships and many more. But wasn’t no idea of building of our own stadium.. poor managerian idea.. take us back to where we belong or swap with the one who’s ready to splash the duo..